I Shine Brighter In the Dark
by Saelor
Summary: Lily Potter is starting her first year at Hogwarts, where she meets the Transfiguration teachers daughter, see what kind of mischeif they get up to!


**Lily Potter and deaths wish**

Chapter 1:

Down in a small town north of London, a little girl is having her first ever riding lesson. Though she much anticipates her father's instructions, she only hopes she doesn't fall off of her broom, or worse, not be able to get on the broom. She is a bubbly nervous child, though she can be very outgoing, at the moment she only had eyes on her father as he mounted his broom, slowly enough that she could calculate just the right way to mount her broom, then slowly her father took off from the ground. "Now sweetie, just do what I did!" He yelled down to his daughter. She only looked up at him. Then walked up next to her older brother's broom and looked at it intensely.

"Up." She commanded. With her arm outstretched over the broom. At once, to her amazement, the broom jumped up into her open hand. Though she didn't let her father see her surprise. She simply put her broom beneath her legs and took of exactly as her father did. Kicking off from the ground and flying level with him. Looking completely thrilled at the feet she had just performed.

"Good job Lily! Now let's just fly a couple of laps around the acreage." Lily gritted her teeth and followed her dad, trying unsuccessfully to out fly him. He chuckled as he picked up speed. Lily could only hear his laughter and it angered her, she wanted so much to prove that she was good at flying, that she would make the team at her new school. Her dad only made things harder when he had to show off and out play her. _He's my dad for merlin's sake!_ Lily thought, _shouldn't he be letting me beat him?_

As if her father read her mind, he called back to her, "Lily you're never going to prove anything to me if I _let_ you beat me!" She sighed and accelerated towards him, just before he broke into a dive and landed perfectly on the green grass in there yard. Lily tried to follow his movements but found her rocketing towards her father, than plummeting into the ground. Her father flicked his wand and she levelled out hovering over the grass. She got off and threw the broom over her mother's garden, fuming she trudged her way into the house and slammed the door to her second story bedroom.

"Harry, I know you're trying to be helpful, but honestly, you know how Lily gets." Ginny spoke, she had been watching her daughter's first flying lesson from the sidelines.

"How is she going to learn if I don't push her?" Harry asked his wife. She shook her head.

"Lily is stubborn. Her brothers are always taunting her. You have no idea how hard it is to be a youngest girl in a house full of boys." Ginny told him. Glancing up at her daughter's window, Lily had been watching her parents talk from the open aperture; she quickly ducked down from the window and hoped her mother hadn't seen her. While she was crouching down, she noticed that there was a letter lying on her desk. She hadn't noticed it and slowly got up, cautiously walking towards her desk. The letter was folded tightly together and held that way with a wax crest of an eagle, a lion, a snake, and a badger. Screaming in glee Lily took the letter off of her desk and ran outside of her house towards her parents, forgetting her anger with her father.

"What is it?" Harry asked his daughter, bemused with her short fit.

"It's this!" She smiled widely. Holding out her letter to show her father, then turned towards her mother.

"Mum! See it! It's the letter!" She squealed.

"Yes, while you were flying the letter was dropped off. I didn't open it though, I left it for you." Lily looked up gratefully at her mother, who she shared such a strange resemblance too. It was almost uncanny.

"Can I open it?" She asked her parents.

"Well of course!" Harry told her. Lily beamed and scratched the wax off of the message and unrolled it. She read it through and looked up at her parents.

"Mum… Dad… It says you're allowed to bring pets, does that mean I can get one?" She looked up at her parents with beady brown eyes, Harry sighed and Ginny spoke.

"I'm sure we can arrange it, what do you want to get? A cat? Owl? Toad?" She asked the last one with a laugh and Lily stuck out her tongue.

"Ewe! Yuck, no!" She spluttered. "I'd like a cat." Harry sighed again and Ginny also seemed to lose enthusiasm for getting her daughter a pet, clearly hoping her daughter would choose an owl like her older brothers.

"Sweetie, cats scratch things, they could destroy your clothes and _our_ furniture." Ginny warned her daughter.

"Albus and James got to choose! How come they got what they wanted and I can't get what I want?" She wined, seemingly close to tears.

"Fine." Harry told her. "You can have a cat." Ginny looked shocked but Harry knew what it felt like to have to watch brothers, or more particularly cousins, always get what they want. Lily must have been feeling like Harry had numerously before he went to Hogwarts, though Harry knew his daughter had been playing the sympathy card, he let it go.

"Thanks dad." She mumbled, knowing with the way her father spoke he had known she was only acting. Lily walked off towards the back door before her father spoke again.

"Lily, when would you like to get your school things? I can arrange for you to go with Lysander." Harry was speaking of Lily's friend Lysander, her mother's friend's son. He was Lily's age and would be going to Hogwarts with her in September. "We could also ask Hugo to come along; Hermione and Ron might come with us." Hugo was one of Lily's many cousins, but by far the closest to her age and the closest to driving her mad with his forgetfulness of others feelings, particularly Lily, who he criticized often.

"Sounds fun." Lily grumbled sarcastically at the thought of Hugo laughing at her as she tried millions of wands out. "Will Albus and James come along?"

"Yes, they'll be back from their friend's houses by then." Ginny told her, Lily nodded and walked back up her room. The next few weeks Lily tried her hardest not to get into trouble, which deemed to be particularly easy, seeing as she had no older siblings to taunt and harass her.

"Mum?" She asked her mother as she walked into the kitchen, bleary eyed and combing through her tangled hair with her fingers. "Is Albus coming back today?" Lily had been worried, her brother James had returned the day before, whereas Albus still hadn't come home.

"Yes, Eli and his parents are also making their trip to Diagon Alley today; they told us they would bring him with them." They were to leave for Diagon Alley after breakfast to meet up with the Weasleys, Ginny found that the Scamanders had already gotten Lysander his school thins, Lorcan; another of Lily's cousin wouldn't be going to Hogwarts for another year. Lily ate the waffles her mother had cooked willingly as she watched her older brother flying his broom from outside. Soon enough his mother beckoned him inside for breakfast. When everyone was filled with waffles and syrup, the four Potters stood in their living room facing there fireplace.

"You all remember how to use floo powder?" Harry asked his two children.

"Yes." James told him.

"No." Lily replied honestly, her cheeks flushing, she had used floo powder before, but the memory was vague.

"Alright, James please demonstrate." Harry asked. Smirking, Lily's older brother walked up to the fireplace and scooped a handful of the floo powder. He threw it into the fire, which at once grew several inches in height and flared green. He walked into the fire and stood, facing his parents and younger sister.

"Diagon Alley." He spoke clearly and confidently, and smirked yet again as his sister stared open mouthed as he turned on the spot and vanished.

"I'd better go, can't trust James." Ginny muttered, but Lily knew, blushing madly, that her mother was just trying to show her daughter once more how to use the floo powder. She repeated James steps and disappeared.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Harry asked Lily. She puffed up her chest and tried to look brave, not the nervous wreck she felt like.

"Yes." Lily scooped the floo powder out of the bowl, exactly as James and her mother had, threw the powder into the flames, and hesitated.

"I promise Lily, it won't burn you." Her father reassured. Lily looked nervous, and Harry could tell, despite the courageous image Lily hoped she appeared as in her head. Lily muttered something that sounded like 'I know'. Then stepped into the flames.

Lily felt a strange warm tickling on her feet, than stood up straight, and with careful enunciation spoke the words. "Diagon Alley." Lily swirled around at once, and kept spinning, she felt as though she met be sick, she saw passing fireplaces but thought that if she tried to make out the blurred shapes she might really be sick. After what seemed like ages but was only a few seconds she stumbled out of a different fireplace, coughing on smoke and ashes, and looked up to see the smiling face of Albus Severus Potter.

"Albus!" Lily shrieked, hugging him tightly, he hugged her back than looked down at his little sister.

"I was only gone for a week." He grinned.

"It felt like _ages_! James was being a _git_!" She cried out, forgetting her eldest brother was in the room.

"Hey!" James shouted in indignation. Her mother smiled warmly. Soon Harry came into the Leaky Cauldron though the fireplace and looked at his youngest son.

"Dad!" Albus grinned again, running up and hugging his father, Harry smiled and ruffled up his sons inherited messy hair.

Lily wandered over to where she saw a girl who seemed close to her age and completely confused. She was accompanied by a woman with blonde hair and sparkling green eyes, she was very attractive for her age and had on lilac robes that gracefully flowed down to her ankles, the younger girl looked like a duplicate, she wore a light rose shade of robes that sparkled slightly as she moved with the adult to a door on the other side of the Leaky Cauldron. "Mother, can I get my wand first?" The girl begged.

"Of course, after we can head over to Madam Malkin's for your school robes." Her mother told her daughter, chiding her though the door to the backyard.

"Why do the robes have to be _black_ why can't they be purple or… Or pink!" The girl thought aloud, Lily giggled at the girls words.

"Come on Lily, let's go." Ginny told her daughter, taking her children into the backyard of the leaky cauldron and walking them up to the stone wall. Harry tapped the brick, two up three across. At once the bricks began to mould into the other walls. Lily grinned widely as she saw Diagon Alley. She had been here before, but the thought that now it was her turn to get her wand, and her pet, made the view of Diagon Alley and its large colourful shops even more beautiful.

"Can I go off with Eli? Mum?" Albus asked.

"Sure, meet us in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in an hour, and stay out of trouble!" Ginny shouted as Albus beamed and ran off with his friend.

"Let's head over to Olivander's." Harry told his wife, looking down at Lily. She was staring at the old shop window; a display case was showing a remarkably old wand on a red velvet cushion. Lily's parents walked with her into the old shop, her father opened the door, and a small sound of twinkly bells sounded their arrival. Lily gasped as an old man walked into the front of the store; to Lily's imaginative eyes he appeared to be over a thousand years old. It was true, that Olivander was extremely old, his eyes still sparkled brightly though, as he looked down at the nervous ginger haired girl.

"Who do we have here?" Olivander asked, his voice sounded ancient and brittle to Lily.

"My name is Lily, Lily Potter." She told him, puffing out her chest in what she hoped made her look a lot braver than she was feeling.

"I see… Another Potter. You know, dear child, I remember giving your namesake her wand, yes Willow, 10 1/4", swishy, quite a good wand for performing charms." Olivander eyes seemed to glaze over as he thought of a previous memory. Lily looked around at her father. Who seemed to have stiffened at hearing his mother's wand. Lily turned back around and found that Olivander was rummaging through the shelves. He finally took out a deep purple case and walked to the counter. "Try this one." He told her. Lily opened the case, and took out a wand. It was short and had deep grooves along the sides. "Dragon Heartstring, Oak, 11 inches, quite bendable." Lily grasped the wand firmly in her hand than made a fast swishing movement; the oil lamp next to Olivander suddenly cracked and fell to the floor. Olivander shook his head and took the Oak stick from Lily.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked him.

"Sweetie that wand doesn't match you." Ginny told her daughter, smoothing her hair with her hand. Olivander gave Lily several dozens of more wands, each of them producing similar results. Finally Olivander sighed and went to the very back of his shelves.

"I've never tried this before…" He muttered. "Quite experimental, not the most practical type of wand…" He reached the front counter and looked deep into Lily's eyes. "My dear child, I hope you forgive me if this doesn't work, I don't normally use these types of wands, they are very unreliable, well, go ahead." He handed her a silver box, inside lay a beautifully carved wand, it seemed as if vines were etched along the sides. "Ashwinder Ash core, Hawthorn 10¾ inches." Lily's parents both gasped slightly, looking at the wand that lay in Lily's small hand. Lily felt a tingling sensation, she saw small blue sparks fly out from the wands tip as she swung it casually to the side. Suddenly she clutched the wand tighter and felt a warm feeling deep in her chest.

"Hm… Quite unnatural. Mr. Potter, you know how unreliable foreign materials are." Olivander spoke. "This wand seems to have quite a strong bond with the child, you know, I have had this wand for quite some time, One of the first I made." Lily's father nodded. He walked up and paid for her wand. Lily left the store feeling quite distraught. _Why is my wand bad?_ She was trying hard to contain the question as she walked into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions with her parents. Lily again saw the girl in leaky cauldron; she seemed to be almost finished with her robes. Her wavy golden hair was tied back in a ponytail so Madam Malkin could work on the robes without the girl's hair falling in the way. "Aubrey," A women's voice called out. "Would you like to go over to Madam Primpernelle's when you're done?" The women came into view; Lily saw it was the same lilac clothed woman who had been with the girl in the Leaky Cauldron.

"No mother, I'd love to go to Eeylops though."

"All right then." Her mother sighed and walked back into the rows of robes and dress robes. Madam Malkin saw Lily and quickly finished a stich on the girl's robes, than hurried over.

"Mr. Potter!" Malkin smiled. "How may I help you?"

"Lily is here for her school robes." Harry told her.

"Of course, of course." She murmured, and began measuring Lily's arms and waist with a magical tape measure.

Lily noticed that the girl was now staring at her and her family with polite interest. When Madam Malkin finished with her measurements she had Lily stand next to the girl, where she began working on the both of them. "So your dad is Harry Potter?" The girl asked Lily.

"Yes…" Lily mumbled.

"Amazing! Your father's the man who saved the wizarding world!" The girl grinned. "My name is Aubrey Lockwood." She held her hand out and Lily shook it.

"My name is Lily Potter, so you're going to Hogwarts this year?" Lily asked the other girl.

"Yes, my father wanted me to go to Beauxbatons but I refused." Aubrey seemed nice, but extremely talkative. She told Lily about everything she had done over the summer, she also told Lily about her family, her mother was the new Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, and her father worked in St. Mungo's as a healer. When Madam Malkin finished with her robes Aubrey smiled and said "Well I best be off, I'll see you at Hogwarts!" Waved and left the store with her mother. When Lily herself was finished she left with her parents to Flourish & Blotts.

"Another Potter?" A woman asked as she emerged from a shelf piled high with books, some too dusty to even distinguish the title. "Your brothers were just here, god bless that James, he always seems to find a way to make trouble." The woman trilled on, taking Lily's list of school supplies and returning to her with an armful of books. "These will be the first year course books, Mr. Potter, if you please." Harry followed the woman to the cash register while Ginny helped her daughter put the new books into a bag.

"Alright, where too next?" Lily's father asked as he walked back to his family.

"Can we _please_ go to Eeylops? Please?" Lily begged her parents. Ginny nodded and they left the store, walking down the street and passing several stores including Quality Quidditch Supplies and Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions.

When Lily walked into the store her mouth dropped as she saw creatures of all shapes and sizes, cats that were stalking the ground and watching cages full of tap dancing mice with longingly eyes, owls that hooted and clucked their beaks as workers fed them treats, several toads that sat in large containers croaking, but what stood out the most to Lily was a shaggy brown dog, lying in a cage by itself, looking depressed and lonely. Lily rushed over to the cage and pet the dog's nose through the bars. "Poor girl." Lily murmured softly. "All alone, with no one to pet you. Well I'm here now!" The dog's ears lifted up and it looked at Lily with hopeful, sparkling eyes.

"I'm sorry Lily; they don't allow dogs at school." Harry told Lily, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Dad! What if you transfigured it into a… A cat!" Her father looked at her strangely than knelt down next to her and scratched the dogs matted fur.

"You wouldn't be much happier as a cat than in the cage, wouldn't you?" He asked the dog. The dog dropped its head onto Lily's hand and licked it. She knew the dog wasn't going to be much happier. She also knew that if her father wouldn't transfigure the dog, she'd have to find some way to. That was when she heard a familiar voice and saw a head full of golden hair.

"Dad? Mum? Could you go look for cat food, I'm going to go look for a cat." Her parents nodded, knowing Lily was up to something but didn't seem to worry too much over it, they walked away. "Don't worry. I'll be right back." Lily whispered to the dog.

Lily rushed over to Aubrey, grinning at the other girl. "Did you say your mother teaches Transfiguration at Hogwarts?" Lily asked the girl excitedly.

"Wh-what? Yes, she does… Why?" Aubrey asked her.

"Look at that dog, it looks so sad!" Lily whispered. "I want it as my pet, to take to Hogwarts, but they don't allow you to bring dogs!"

"I know… Wait… you mean for my mother to transfigure it? Into what?" Aubrey raised her eyebrows curiously.

"A cat, look I have an idea…" Lily whispered her flash of genius into Aubrey's ear; she reluctantly nodded and walked over to her mother.

"Mother, can you please show me how to transfigure animals again?" She asked.

"Aubrey! We're here for a pet not a lesson on Transfiguration." Her mother hissed.

"Please." Aubrey whined.

"Alright fine. What do you want me to do?" Her mother agreed, apparently used to doing as her daughter asked.

"Can you turn that dog into a cat?" She asked.

"Yes." Aubrey's mother sighed and pointed at the dog. Lily couldn't hear the next word, for the woman muttered it under her breath, at once the dog that was lying in the cage sat, curled up, as a cat. It had ruffled brown fur. Aubrey quickly drew her mother's attention to a sign reading _Edible Ants That Will Give Your Enemies Itches _Lily ran across the aisle towards the cage, scooped up the cat, and ran off before Aubrey's mother could change the dog back into a cat.

Lily waved to Aubrey and mouthed the words _Thank-you_, then turned around to find her parents towering over her. "You want this cat?" Lily's mother asked, looked apprehensively at the scuffed fur and drooped ears. Lily hoped her mother wouldn't make the connection to the dog.

"Yes." She replied firmly, strengthening her grip around the cat-dog.

"Well, what are you going to name it?" Her mother asked.

"Uh… I'll name her... Eliza!" Her parents nodded, they seemed to like the name, her father paid for Eliza and a cage, along with a large supply of cat food. When they finished at Eeylops the Potter's made their way down the street, passing stores with colourful display cases and venders that pushed up next to Lily and her mother, trying to sell them odd charmed bracelets and necklaces.

"Mum! Dad!" Albus yelled as they entered Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "Can I get this?" He held up a potion that read: _Weasley's color changing potion! Tired of your pets boring old color? Drip this into its evening meal, and watch it change before your very eyes!_

"Do you have any money?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Albus smiled.

"Then you're aloud… I better not find out that you used it on anyone's pet but your own!" Harry yelled as Albus ran off to buy the potion.

"Can I get a collar for Eliza?" Lily asked, knowing fully well she had no money of her own.

"All right." Lily beamed and ran off towards several bins with different labels, including a bin labeled: _Pet Collars! Colors change according to mood! _And _Voice Collars! To put on pets and humans! _Lily noticed several older looking kids were trying on different voice collars. A boy with dirty blonde hair put one of the collars on and spoke loudly. The others snickered as his voice sounded like he had just sucked the air out of a balloon. Lily picked a mood changing collar out of a bin and placed it around Eliza to check for size. It fit perfectly. Eliza meowed angrily, apparently not used to wearing a collar. Lily sighed and took it off her pet.

"You know, you don't need a collar, would you rather have a toy?" Lily was aware that the older kids were snickering at her, watching as she talked to her cat. "Although," Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm not sure if I should get you a dog toy… Or a cat toy." Eliza looked at Lily, the cat's eye lids narrowing. "Well let's go see!" Lily smiled, racing off towards more bins full of pet toys.

After trying several cat toys Lily sighed and held up a small rubber blue bone big enough for her cat to put in her mouth "What about this?" Eliza sniffed at it than took it out of Lily's hand, pleased Lily walked away towards her parents.

"Lily, why does Eliza have a dog toy?" Her mother asked, raising her eyebrows in amusement.

"Oh, um, Eliza didn't like any of the other toys." Lily lied quickly, her parents looked at each other for a split moment than nodded and walked with Lily to the counter, a tall man with smile wrinkles looked down at Lily and her parents happily.

"Hey little sis!" George grinned, hugging Lily's mother tightly. "Harry." George shook her father's hand and pulled him into a one armed hug, then looked down at Lily. "Are you sure you're growing? You look smaller than last time!" George laughed and hugged his niece. Lily blushed and smiled at her Uncle.

"I am growing! I'm two inches taller than last time!" She told him.

"Are you sure?" George's face cracked into another grin. Lily sighed and walked to her mother.

"I still need to get my cauldron and my potion ingredients."

"I know, we'll get them as we leave." Ginny told her, laughing up at George and planning a get-together. Lily spent the rest of the trip with her cousins, who had finally arrived in Diagon Alley, Hugo kept speaking of how he was sure to be in Gryffindor, Rose, quite opposite to her younger brother, was reading her newly acquired school books and trying not to listen to her brother insistence on being a 'perfect' Gryffindor. At the end of the day Lily bid good bye to her cousins and relatives, with a sigh she curled up to her father and put her hand in his. Harry smiled at his youngest child, and disappeared with a loud crack to put his daughter to bed.

Chapter 2:

"I don't know, she looks like a Hufflepuff to me." James was arguing with Albus over what house Lily wound end up in, as she and the rest of her family made their way towards platform nine and three quarters.

"I will not go in Hufflepuff!" Lily shouted stubbornly, stamping her foot on the ground.

"It doesn't matter what house you end up in, Lily, you'll always be a Potter." Lily knew her mother was trying to be comforting but she still had an image of James and Albus laughing at her mercilessly as she walked and sat down at Hufflepuff table.

"She's a Gryffindor, I know it." Albus stated. Lily smiled to herself but she couldn't help but feel a terrible case of butterflies.

"Here we are." Lily's mother smiled as she and the rest of the small family stood infront of a large stone barrier between platforms nine and ten.


End file.
